Unions have gone largely silent on vaccine mandates

Vaccine mandates are all the rage these days.

The president wants companies to enforce them.

Recently, polling out of California shows that voters are open to them in numbers far larger than you would expect.

One group of people has remained largely silent in the battle over an employer forcing you to get the vaccine against your will — unions.

Unions traditionally oppose giving an employer any power over an employee. They attempt to bargain on everything from working conditions, time off, compensation and more.

So the silence of the larger labor movement on this issue is somewhat puzzling.

This is not to say that there is no energy in labor movements around the country on the issue. There is, but most seems to be coming from public sector unions.

Chicago PD said, “Hell no.”

NYPD vowed to sue.

Providence firefighters have balked at a mandate.

Teachers’ unions have largely backtracked and now support the mandates.

But missing from this completely is a buy-in from private-sector unions.

The host of an Alabama-based radio talk show that focuses on labor issues, The Valley Labor Report, Jacob Morrison, says that it’s not a lack of concern on the issue but a lack of passion over it.

In an appearance on WVNN’s “The Dale Jackson Show,” Morrison said there are union members upset about it locally with only 10% of workers supporting the mandate. But when the union leaders tried to organize against it, the interest was minimal.

Morrison clarified, “[T]here is a resistance to it, but not enough people actually want to go out there and fight it because most people are going to be vaccinated, and those who aren’t vaccinated aren’t willing to go put up a fight against it.”

Without union opposition, politicians will feel emboldened to push for more mandates because politicians of all stripes fear the organizing power of unions, especially public-sector unions, even in Alabama.

Silence is compliance, and the silence is deafening.

Listen:

Dale Jackson is a contributing writer to Yellowhammer News and hosts a talk show from 5-9 AM weekdays on WVNN and on Talk 99.5 from 10 AM to noon.